Cowboys and bikers

Just over a year ago I wrote about a calf I saw in the paddock of a property close by. Here’s the picture of the little cutie.

I put that picture in this post because something weird happened here on Saturday night – something to do with cows (and I didn’t get pictures).

I need to set the scene:

It was Saturday afternoon. A cattle truck drove down our road to the left. That road goes nowhere, there are another two sugar cane farms and then nothing but mountains, and behind those mountains is the blue Pacific. Hubby and I thought the driver must have been lost because the farm with the cattle on it (as per the picture above) is in the other direction.

Then all our power went off. I checked the electricity provider’s mobile site. Unknown fault, Unknown timeframe. Blackout. Great.

We sat on the front porch watching the sunset (our regular end-of-day routine). Then several cowboys on quad bikes and a few cars we didn’t recognize drove by. That was odd – but it was Saturday Night Wine Time, so we didn’t take much notice, until…

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!

Some newly delivered cattle had run through a break in the fence on the other farm, taken to the mountains, and ended up at the dead-end of our road.

There were cattle running around the road and in and out of the sugar cane paddocks. The cowboys on quad bikes were trying to round them up. Cattle ran through the yard and the dogs went ballistic. The fact that there are so many farm dogs around here made the cowboys job difficult. All our dogs are fenced, but that doesn’t stop them from barking.

Due to the blackout we couldn’t turn any of our house spotlights on to assist in finding the poor cows, so the evening was full of flashlights and torches and car lights trying in vain to find them.

The problem was (and still is) that the sugar cane is taller than the cattle, so as soon as they get in they can’t be seen.

Sneaky little cows…

So the most part of the night was spent searching for cattle and then watching others search for cattle while we finished off our bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

They didn’t find them all so we’re still searching – don’t be surprised if I post a picture of me riding a cow home after dog walk.

Then on Sunday my neighbour, Joey, took me for a ride on his Harley. I was a bit tentative at first because I was sure we’d get half way down the road and hit a stray cow. Luckily that didn’t happen!

We went for a ride to Cairns down the long open road that leads to the city from our farms. A favourite scene of mine from Let Sleeping Gods Lie kept popping into my head – “She clung to him as he opened the throttle. The road lay out in front of them like a party streamer.”

It was an amazing experience. I’ve only been on a motorbike twice before (many years ago) and I’ve never been on a Harley.

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61 Comments

If you don’t want a bike of your own, consider a moped. I own one, and it’s a lot of fun. I don’t feel as vulnerable as I might on a motorcycle, yet I still get to enjoy the wind in my hair and on my face, and go places a car just can’t. 🙂

Never a dull moment at your place, Dianne. 🙂 I hope to see that picture of you riding a cow. LOL! Once, in high school, I rode on the back of a motorcycle. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Perhaps it was because we were on a very busy interstate, outside of Washington, D.C., during rush hour. Yikes!

I’ve never been one to get excited about bikes, but this ride was heavenly. Maybe it was so good because we left early in the morning and avoided all the traffic – I’m not good at doing rush hour on (or in) any vehicle 😀

We have that saying here too, Sheila! I’ll have to remind hubby he needs to do all those chores now because the cows have come home 😀
The bike ride was great – such a wonderful feeling of freedom 😉 xxx

That does sound fun! OK, here is where I admit I am the biggest dunce. Why did I not put two and two together and realize you were by the PACIFIC Ocean? What an ignoramus. That baby is the cutest little guy, by the way. Or is she a girl? What is a baby bull anyway? Now I’m confused again. I feel as if I get dumber by the day.

That Pacific Ocean is very big, Luanne – we’re in the South Pacific 🙂 and you’re not a dunce at all, the other half of Australia is boarded by the Indian Ocean so it’s easy to get confused 😉 All the cows are females, they only bring a bull in every once and a while 😉

The cattle will definitely destroy the sugar cane because they’ll just stand in there all day chomping on it, Allen, That’s why the other farmers aren’t that impressed. Cows love it 🙂
I think I’ll take another ride on the Harley one day – my neighbour is a good rider and my hubby said he’s the only one I can feel safe with (and I found out he’s right!). They’ve been best friends since they were little kids 😉

I’d love to have a Harley of my own Janna 🙂 I was thinking the same thing about ‘feral cows’ but I don’t think that can happen because cattle is too domesticated now (and besides – some people around here just love meat too much to let that happen) 😉

You look like a very cool biker chick ♡ I love the back of the bike, although have not been on for a while but if the weather is nice next week we were discussing a ride maybe to Glenreagh with the neighbours, or just us to Bellingen or maybe even up the mountain to Dorrigo on the G.O.’s HD.
I love excitement at wine o’clock…
A few weeks back, to Diesel-Dog’s delight we had a trio of roaming cows wandering around for a week or so… the neighbours kept leaving their gate open and he loved being asked to rounded ’em up and out!

Diesel-Dog would have loved that! My little black dog was SO keen to get out there and round up the cattle. She’s a rottweiler but back in the day (hundreds of years ago) they were called Roman cattle dogs and you could see her heritage kicking in as soon as she saw those cows. It’s amazing how the ancient breeding is always there in domesticated animals.
G.O. has a Harley? Wow – you’re so lucky! Those mountain rides on the mid-north coast would be absolutely fantastic. The scenery is spectacular. I hope the weather clears up for you xxx

The ride on the Harley was something I promised I’d do before I turn 60 – I haven’t turned 60 yet but it’s now been ticked off my bucket list 😀 Don’t get me wrong, I was terrified at first, but it ended up being a very relaxing ride. Sometimes I just pretend I’m brave 😀

Great story Dianne! Life on the farm is an adventure. I’ve ridden bikes for years, although It’s been awhile since my last tour. Put some 20,000 miles on my bike in Thailand but the flood a few years back killed the poor beast. My pickup has taken over my transport duties when I’m back home, in Thailand. Hope they find the cows.

Everyone around this area has ridden bikes all their lives except for me, Dannie. I was bought up in the city (with an overly protective mother) so I’m really new at this game 😉 You’re lucky you’ve had the opportunity to ride so much and Thailand is certainly the place to enjoy a good bike ride.
Thank you so much for the Tweet!!! 🙂 xxx

I took a video of the some of the cows being rounded up yesterday, but there are still a few missing. I’m pretty sure they’re out there somewhere enjoying eating the sugar cane! 😀
I laughed loudly at that hog joke! Awesome 😉 xxx

Great post, Dianne! I’ve had stray goats, pigs and cows in my garden in Fiji and sheep here in my garden in Ireland – and they’re always real pain in the neck to shoo away. Hope your cows have been rounded up now.
I’ve never ridden a Harley – but it sounds like an adventure!

The bike ride really was an adventure Susan! What a feeling of freedom 🙂 Not all the cows have been rounded up yet – in fact, there was one in the front yard last night and I felt a bit sorry for it being lost 😦

What a fun post to read! I’m just imagining the smartest cow in the bunch sneaking over to some electric grid and turning all the power off so that they could all sneak away. 🐮 💥 Maybe you could’ve gathered them up a little easier on that motorcycle! 😏

Love this story. Reminds me of the time I was a kid, playing in the sandbox with my sister, and we looked up to see a huge bull staring at us not 10 feet away! The neighbor’s cattle escaped their field and were roaming all over town! A little scary but pretty cool too (especially because he was only curious and not angry). 🙂

Wow – that would have been scary because you don’t know how big they are until they get up close and personal, Kate! These cows are still on the loose and one came into the front yard last night – I wanted to catch it but then thought better of it when I saw how strong it looked 😀

Such an adorable little calf. 🙂 Wow, it sounds like you had plenty of excitement and activity during your wine time and beyond. I love the photo of you on the Harley. You and Joey make a formidable team on that machine. I’ve been a passenger on a motorbike a couple of times, but nothing as fancy as this one.

There certainly was a lot of excitement when those cows made their escape, Sylvia! There is still one missing and it came over to the veranda the other day to say hello to me 😀 By the time the cowboys got there it was gone. I felt sorry for it because it looked lonely – I hope they find it soon xxx

What an adventure with the cow version of hide and seek. I can see why you wouldn’t get pictures… Sometimes you need to stay in the experience rather than document it. I’ve never been on a motorcycle – my mom forbid it. I’m “of age” (okay, well past that age) now, but no one has offered me a ride 🙂

There’s never a dull moment around the farm. My kids are all grown and live in the city and they think I live a quiet, boring life 😀 But there’s always something happening and I absolutely love it (and the bike ride was awesome!) Thanks so much for coming over this way to say hi xxxx

I’m looking forward to the picture of you riding a cow! I hope all those sneaky cows were found and I hope you’re writing away about all these adventures. They must want you to write about them since they won’t leave you alone! 🙂

There’s still one hanging around and she often pops in late afternoon to say hello. I wish she could find her way home (but I kind of don’t at the same time because they are destined for dinner plates) 😦

Dianne! I want to hug that calf and never let him go!!! I think you already know about my cow obsession, so I LOVED this story and I’m glad the cows are okay. If I were in your situation, I probably would have smuggled some into the house…much to Mr. H’s chagrin. 😉

An interesting evening indeed Dianne I would prefer to be the one on the deck drinking the wine than the one chasing the cows. I have been a passenger on a motorbike once, but it was such a rough ride I never went again. Now a Harley, I imagine would be a smoother ride? Correct me if I’m wrong. This blog post news is all good fodder for a story I must say.

How cute is that calf! But really, cowboys on quad bikes! They really ought to be on horses don’t you think? They’d be higher up then, and have more chance spotting the cattle… 😉 It’s sure never dull where you are! Blessings, Harula x